Day 20 of 365

¹God said to Jacob, "Arise, go up to Bethel, and live there. Make there an altar to God, who appeared to you when you fled from the face of Esau your brother."

²Then Jacob said to his household, and to all who were with him, "Put away the foreign gods that are among you, purify yourselves, change your garments.

³Let us arise, and go up to Bethel. I will make there an altar to God, who answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went."

⁴They gave to Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hands, and the rings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.

⁵They traveled, and a terror of God was on the cities that were around them, and they did not pursue the sons of Jacob.

⁶So Jacob came to Luz (that is, Bethel), which is in the land of Canaan, he and all the people who were with him.

⁷He built an altar there, and called the place El Beth El; because there God was revealed to him, when he fled from the face of his brother.

⁸Deborah, Rebekah's nurse, died, and she was buried below Bethel under the oak; and its name was called Allon Bacuth.

⁹God appeared to Jacob again, when he came from Paddan Aram, and blessed him.

¹⁰God said to him, "Your name is Jacob. Your name shall not be Jacob any more, but your name will be Israel." He named him Israel.

¹¹God said to him, "I am God Almighty. Be fruitful and multiply. A nation and a company of nations will be from you, and kings will come out of your body.

¹²The land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give it to you, and to your seed after you will I give the land."

¹³God went up from him in the place where he spoke with him.

¹⁴Jacob set up a pillar in the place where he spoke with him, a pillar of stone. He poured out a drink offering on it, and poured oil on it.

¹⁵Jacob called the name of the place where God spoke with him "Bethel."

¹⁶They traveled from Bethel. There was still some distance to come to Ephrath, and Rachel travailed. She had hard labor.

¹⁷When she was in hard labor, the midwife said to her, "Do not be afraid, for now you will have another son."

¹⁸It happened, as her soul was departing (for she died), that she named him Benoni, but his father named him Benjamin.

¹⁹Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath (the same is Bethlehem).

²⁰Jacob set up a pillar on her grave. The same is the Pillar of Rachel's grave to this day.

²¹Israel traveled, and spread his tent beyond the tower of Eder.

²²It happened, while Israel lived in that land, that Reuben went and lay with Bilhah, his father's concubine, and Israel heard of it. Now the sons of Jacob were twelve.

²³The sons of Leah: Reuben (Jacob's firstborn), Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.

²⁴The sons of Rachel: Joseph and Benjamin.

²⁵The sons of Bilhah (Rachel's handmaid): Dan and Naphtali.

²⁶The sons of Zilpah (Leah's handmaid): Gad and Asher. These are the sons of Jacob, who were born to him in Paddan Aram.

²⁷Jacob came to Isaac his father, to Mamre, to Kiriath Arba (which is Hebron), where Abraham and Isaac lived as foreigners.

²⁸The days of Isaac were one hundred eighty years.

²⁹Isaac gave up the spirit, and died, and was gathered to his people, old and full of days. Esau and Jacob, his sons, buried him.

¹Now this is the history of the generations of Esau (that is, Edom).

²Esau took his wives from the daughters of Canaan: Adah the daughter of Elon, the Hittite; and Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, the Hivite;

³and Basemath, Ishmael's daughter, sister of Nebaioth.

⁴Adah bore to Esau Eliphaz. Basemath bore Reuel.

⁵Oholibamah bore Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. These are the sons of Esau, who were born to him in the land of Canaan.

⁶Esau took his wives, his sons, his daughters, and all the members of his household, with his livestock, all his animals, and all his possessions, which he had gathered in the land of Canaan, and went into a land away from his brother Jacob.

⁷For their substance was too great for them to dwell together, and the land of their travels couldn't bear them because of their livestock.

⁸Esau lived in the hill country of Seir. Esau is Edom.

⁹This is the history of the generations of Esau the father of the Edomites in the hill country of Seir:

¹⁰these are the names of Esau's sons: Eliphaz, the son of Adah, the wife of Esau; and Reuel, the son of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

¹¹The sons of Eliphaz were Teman, Omar, Zepho, and Gatam, and Kenaz.

¹²Timna was concubine to Eliphaz, Esau's son; and she bore to Eliphaz Amalek. These are the sons of Adah, Esau's wife.

¹³These are the sons of Reuel: Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah. These were the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.

¹⁴These were the sons of Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah, the daughter of Zibeon, Esau's wife: she bore to Esau Jeush, Jalam, and Korah.

¹⁵These are the chiefs of the sons of Esau: the sons of Eliphaz the firstborn of Esau: chief Teman, chief Omar, chief Zepho, chief Kenaz,

¹⁶chief Korah, chief Gatam, chief Amalek: these are the chiefs who came of Eliphaz in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Adah.

¹⁷These are the sons of Reuel, Esau's son: chief Nahath, chief Zerah, chief Shammah, chief Mizzah: these are the chiefs who came of Reuel in the land of Edom; these are the sons of Basemath, Esau's wife.

¹⁸These are the sons of Oholibamah, Esau's wife: chief Jeush, chief Jalam, chief Korah: these are the chiefs who came of Oholibamah the daughter of Anah, Esau's wife.

¹⁹These are the sons of Esau (that is, Edom), and these are their chiefs.

²⁰These are the sons of Seir the Horite, the inhabitants of the land: Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah,

²¹Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. These are the chiefs who came of the Horites, the children of Seir in the land of Edom.

²²The children of Lotan were Hori and Heman. Lotan's sister was Timna.

²³These are the children of Shobal: Alvan, Manahath, Ebal, Shepho, and Onam.

²⁴These are the children of Zibeon: Aiah and Anah. This is Anah who found the hot springs in the wilderness, as he fed the donkeys of Zibeon his father.

²⁵These are the children of Anah: Dishon and Oholibamah, the daughter of Anah.

²⁶These are the children of Dishon: Hemdan, Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran.

²⁷These are the children of Ezer: Bilhan, Zaavan, and Akan.

²⁸These are the children of Dishan: Uz and Aran.

²⁹These are the chiefs who came of the Horites: chief Lotan, chief Shobal, chief Zibeon, chief Anah,

³⁰chief Dishon, chief Ezer, and chief Dishan: these are the chiefs who came of the Horites, according to their chiefs in the land of Seir.

³¹These are the kings who reigned in the land of Edom, before any king reigned over the children of Israel.

³²Bela, the son of Beor, reigned in Edom. The name of his city was Dinhabah.

³³Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zerah of Bozrah, reigned in his place.

³⁴Jobab died, and Husham of the land of the Temanites reigned in his place.

³⁵Husham died, and Hadad, the son of Bedad, who struck Midian in the field of Moab, reigned in his place. The name of his city was Avith.

³⁶Hadad died, and Samlah of Masrekah reigned in his place.

³⁷Samlah died, and Shaul of Rehoboth by the river, reigned in his place.

³⁸Shaul died, and Baal Hanan, the son of Achbor reigned in his place.

³⁹Baal Hanan the son of Achbor died, and Hadar reigned in his place. The name of his city was Pau. His wife's name was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezahab.

⁴⁰These are the names of the chiefs who came from Esau, according to their families, after their places, and by their names: chief Timna, chief Alvah, chief Jetheth,

⁴¹chief Oholibamah, chief Elah, chief Pinon,

⁴²chief Kenaz, chief Teman, chief Mibzar,

⁴³chief Magdiel, and chief Iram. These are the chiefs of Edom, according to their habitations in the land of their possession. This is Esau, the father of the Edomites.

¹Jacob lived in the land of his father's travels, in the land of Canaan.

²This is the history of the generations of Jacob. Joseph, being seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. He was a boy with the sons of Bilhah and Zilpah, his father's wives. Joseph brought an evil report of them to their father.

³Now Israel loved Joseph more than all his children, because he was the son of his old age, and he made him a coat of many colors.

⁴His brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, and they hated him, and couldn't speak peaceably to him.

⁵Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers, and they hated him all the more.

⁶He said to them, "Please hear this dream which I have dreamed:

⁷for behold, we were binding sheaves in the field, and behold, my sheaf arose and also stood upright; and behold, your sheaves came around, and bowed down to my sheaf."

⁸His brothers said to him, "Will you indeed reign over us? Or will you indeed have dominion over us?" They hated him all the more for his dreams and for his words.

⁹He dreamed yet another dream, and told it to his brothers, and said, "Behold, I have dreamed yet another dream: and behold, the sun and the moon and eleven stars bowed down to me."

¹⁰He told it to his father and to his brothers. His father rebuked him, and said to him, "What is this dream that you have dreamed? Will I and your mother and your brothers indeed come to bow ourselves down to you to the earth?"

¹¹His brothers envied him, but his father kept this saying in mind.

¹²His brothers went to feed their father's flock in Shechem.

¹³Israel said to Joseph, "Aren't your brothers feeding the flock in Shechem? Come, and I will send you to them." He said to him, "Here I am."

¹⁴He said to him, "Go now, see whether it is well with your brothers, and well with the flock; and bring me word again." So he sent him out of the valley of Hebron, and he came to Shechem.

¹⁵A certain man found him, and behold, he was wandering in the field. The man asked him, "What are you looking for?"

¹⁶He said, "I am looking for my brothers. Tell me, please, where they are feeding the flock."

¹⁷The man said, "They have left here, for I heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothan.'" Joseph went after his brothers, and found them in Dothan.

¹⁸They saw him afar off, and before he came near to them, they conspired against him to kill him.

¹⁹They said one to another, "Behold, this dreamer comes.

²⁰Come now therefore, and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'An evil animal has devoured him.' We will see what will become of his dreams."

²¹Reuben heard it, and delivered him out of their hand, and said, "Let's not take his life."

²²Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"-that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.

²³It happened, when Joseph came to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his coat, the coat of many colors that was on him;

²⁴and they took him, and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty. There was no water in it.

²⁵They sat down to eat bread, and they lifted up their eyes and looked, and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites was coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing spices and balm and myrrh, going to carry it down to Egypt.

²⁶Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we kill our brother and conceal his blood?

²⁷Come, and let's sell him to the Ishmaelites, and not let our hand be on him; for he is our brother, our flesh." His brothers listened to him.

²⁸Midianites who were merchants passed by, and they drew and lifted up Joseph out of the pit, and sold Joseph to the Ishmaelites for twenty pieces of silver. They brought Joseph into Egypt.

²⁹Reuben returned to the pit; and saw that Joseph wasn't in the pit; and he tore his clothes.

³⁰He returned to his brothers, and said, "The child is no more; and I, where will I go?"

³¹They took Joseph's coat, and killed a male goat, and dipped the coat in the blood.

³²They took the coat of many colors, and they brought it to their father, and said, "We have found this. Examine it, now, whether it is your son's coat or not."

³³He recognized it, and said, "It is my son's coat. An evil animal has devoured him. Joseph is without doubt torn in pieces."

³⁴Jacob tore his clothes, and put sackcloth on his waist, and mourned for his son many days.

³⁵All his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. He said, "For I will go down to Sheol to my son mourning." His father wept for him.

³⁶The Midianites sold him into Egypt to Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh's, the captain of the guard.

¹It happened at that time, that Judah went down from his brothers, and visited a certain Adullamite, whose name was Hirah.

²Judah saw there a daughter of a certain Canaanite whose name was Shua. He took her, and went in to her.

³She conceived, and bore a son; and he named him Er.

⁴She conceived again, and bore a son; and she named him Onan.

⁵She yet again bore a son, and named him Shelah: and he was at Chezib, when she bore him.

⁶Judah took a wife for Er, his firstborn, and her name was Tamar.

⁷Er, Judah's firstborn, was wicked in the sight of the Lord. The Lord killed him.

⁸Judah said to Onan, "Go in to your brother's wife, and perform the duty of a husband's brother to her, and raise up seed to your brother."

⁹Onan knew that the seed wouldn't be his; and it happened, when he went in to his brother's wife, that he spilled it on the ground, lest he should give seed to his brother.

¹⁰The thing which he did was evil in the sight of the Lord, and he killed him also.

¹¹Then Judah said to Tamar, his daughter-in-law, "Remain a widow in your father's house, until Shelah, my son, is grown up;" for he said, "Lest he also die, like his brothers." Tamar went and lived in her father's house.

¹²After many days, Shua's daughter, the wife of Judah, died. Judah was comforted, and went up to his sheepshearers to Timnah, he and his friend Hirah, the Adullamite.

¹³It was told Tamar, saying, "Behold, your father-in-law is going up to Timnah to shear his sheep."

¹⁴She took off of her the garments of her widowhood, and covered herself with her veil, and wrapped herself, and sat in the gate of Enaim, which is by the way to Timnah; for she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she wasn't given to him as a wife.

¹⁵When Judah saw her, he thought that she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.

¹⁶He turned to her by the way, and said, "Please come, let me come in to you," for he did not know that she was his daughter-in-law. She said, "What will you give me, that you may come in to me?"

¹⁷He said, "I will send you a kid of the goats from the flock." She said, "Will you give me a pledge, until you send it?"

¹⁸He said, "What pledge will I give you?" She said, "Your signet and your cord, and your staff that is in your hand." He gave them to her, and came in to her, and she conceived by him.

¹⁹She arose, and went away, and put off her veil from her, and put on the garments of her widowhood.

²⁰Judah sent the kid of the goats by the hand of his friend, the Adullamite, to receive the pledge from the woman's hand, but he did not find her.

²¹Then he asked the men of her place, saying, "Where is the prostitute, that was at Enaim by the road?" They said, "There has been no prostitute here."

²²He returned to Judah, and said, "I haven't found her; and also the men of the place said, 'There has been no prostitute here.'"

²³Judah said, "Let her keep it, lest we be shamed. Behold, I sent this kid, and you haven't found her."

²⁴It happened about three months later, that it was told Judah, saying, "Tamar, your daughter-in-law, has played the prostitute; and moreover, behold, she is with child by prostitution." Judah said, "Bring her forth, and let her be burnt."

²⁵When she was brought forth, she sent to her father-in-law, saying, "By the man, whose these are, I am with child." She also said, "Please discern whose are these-the signet, and the cords, and the staff."

²⁶Judah acknowledged them, and said, "She is more righteous than I, because I did not give her to Shelah, my son." He knew her again no more.

²⁷It happened in the time of her travail, that behold, twins were in her womb.

²⁸When she travailed, one put out a hand, and the midwife took and tied a scarlet thread on his hand, saying, "This came out first."

²⁹It happened, as he drew back his hand, that behold, his brother came out, and she said, "Why have you made a breach for yourself?" Therefore his name was called Perez.

³⁰Afterward his brother came out, that had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zerah.